[lg policy] Nigeria:Indigenous Language: Lagos Speaker Commend Army’s Directive

[Harold Schiffman]

 Indigenous Language: Lagos Speaker Commend Army’s Directive
November 26, 2017, 20:57
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The Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, has
commended the Nigerian Army on its directive to its personnel to learn the
country’s three major indigenous languages — Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.
Obasa, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Political and
Legislative Matters, Mr Mufutau Egberongbe on Saturday, said the directive
showed that the army was passionate about ensuring internal peace and unity
in the country.
“Our argument has often been that security officers should operate in areas
where they understand the language, cultures and traditions of the people,”
he said.
The speaker said that was one of the reasons why the lawmakers had
constantly advocated for state policing.
“We also recently resolved to have the Yoruba language taught in all
schools in Lagos.
“It is not a personal issue; there is the need to ensure that the language
retains its importance in the country.
“Across the world, people are proud of their languages. They even teach
with it in schools and solve major societal issues with it.
“We know English is our major language here, but we must keep indigenous
ones from extinction.
“With the introduction of the three major languages in the military, we are
sure of a positive result in the fight against terrorism and other issues
threatening our peace as a nation,” Obasa said.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman, in a
statement, had said that the army expected its personnel to learn the
languages within the next one year.
He said the directive was in line with a new language policy of the army.
According to him, the policy will, among others, foster esprit-de-corps and
better communication with the populace to enhance information gathering and
civil-military relations.


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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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